Short takes from the 3-Dot Lounge, where our coastside branch survived the tsunami alert:

As the production of "Moneyball" grinds on, let's hope the filmmakers take great liberties with the facts. Michael Lewis' book was superbly written, but there's nothing more boring than the A's search for no-speed, no-defense guys who could really work a 3-and-1 count on their way to a hopeless career. Let's watch Billy Beaneas he rigs a set of explosives at the Angels' minor-league headquarters. Let's see Art Howeas a coke-sniffing, late-night karaoke artist who worships Otis Redding and has memorized every song by the Sons of Champlin. Isolate a front-office executive quietly embezzling funds from the company. Make out the hero as a .438-hitting outfielder who swings at everything, literally, including Navy F-18s in the pregame fly-by. Cut to a scene where Paul DePodesta has a sawed-off shotgun in his office, and in private moments he lifts it out of a closet, fondles it, aims at things. One night he pretends to shoot, it goes off, and he takes out classic photos of Joe Rudiand Blue Moon Odom.

A frustrated A's fan

Reader Ben Woods, on our reference to Prague in a recent column: "I guarantee you that if the A's played in Prague, the ambiance would be better and the beer would be fabulous." ... If Brandon Belt fulfills the Giants' expectations down the line, Pablo Sandovalwill be directly affected. It had been assumed that Sandoval could make a seamless transition to first base if his defense fell short at third, but that won't happen if Belt takes over the position. A good incentive for Sandoval to keep the weight off ... Still can't get over Buster Posey's 450-foot homer to dead center field in the recent exhibition against Colorado. Lots of guys hit monster shots with a dead-pull swing. When someone goes that deep straightaway, it calls to mind Richie Allenor Frank Howard. A rare breed of hitter ... The Giants seem quietly confident that Cody Ross- not Aaron Rowand- can take over center field if Andres Torresneeds a replacement. Rowand, understandably a bit depressed of late, really needs a change of scene ... Madison Bumgarnertook some good-natured ribbing over his claim that postseason baseball couldn't have brought more pressure than he felt pitching for the state title in high school. He's not that far off. High-school sports (football, especially) can make or break a kid, for life. Success or choke job? It can mean the difference between a successful career - say, breezing around town as a hotshot real estate agent - or getting too drunk in the bar every night, blaming it all on a coach or a teammate or an official ... Yahoo's Jeff Passan on Bumgarner: "Ringo" ... It won't be long before we get the first wave of nonsense from stat-crazed dunces claiming there's nothing to be learned from a batting average, won-loss record or RBI total. Listen, just go back to bed, OK? Strip down to those fourth-day undies, head downstairs (to "your mother's basement and your mother's computer," as Chipper Jonesso aptly describes it) and churn out some more crap. For more than a century, .220 meant something. So did .278, .301, .350, an 18-4 record, or 118 RBIs. Now it all means nothing because a bunch of nonathletes are trying to reinvent the game?

Funny headline

"Warriors Playoff Hopes Take a Blow" after Wednesday's loss at New Jersey. On the real side, there were no hopes to damage. The Warriors' season ended with the losses at Minnesota and Indiana, launching a travesty of a road trip on which nothing good happened. No redeeming features. Season over ... The departure of Brandan Wright (no big loss, in truth) means that the Warriors have only a second-round draft pick to show for the trade of Jason Richardson. But perhaps this is worse: Trading a No. 1 pick to New Jersey in July of 2008 for Marcus Williams. Does anyone even remember that guy? ... "SportsCenter" anchors Neil Everettand Stan Verretthave an annoying habit of isolating athletes as a "friend of the program." Really? If somebody sets a record for missed shots or gets arrested for assault, you won't mention it? ... Ohio State sure will miss suspended coach Jim Tresselin those character-building tests against Akron and Toledo. Good thing he'll be around for the third and fourth games on that brutal schedule: Intermediary Tech (the Fightin' Ombudsmen) and Dreadful A&M.